It’s finally happening! I’ve said that a few times this week, first the crossover plan for ‘He-Man‘ and ‘Thundercats‘ comic expansion made my day. This time it’s more comic book news, but like the coolest comic book news I could bring you! ‘Big Trouble In Little China‘ and ‘Escape From New York‘ comics will have a crossover edition!!! That’s right! Kurt Russell x 2! Doublemint Kurt Russell! How much Kurt Russell can you take before it’s too much Kurt Russell? I don’t know, but I’m willing to find out! Now, let’s take a minute to calm down, I expended more energy in the first sentences than I have all week! While I’m wheezing my heart rate back to normal, let’s get the rest of the story.

Okay, let me get this straight. Out of all the remakes Hollywood wants to do, why are we tackling ‘Big Trouble in Little China‘? I really hope this is a mere rumor, but The Wrap is reporting it, and it seems some industry professionals are confirming this. But yes, 20th Century Fox wants to remake the iconic 80s film that starred Kurt Russell and was directed by John Carpenter.

“You know what Jack Burton always says. It’s all in the reflexes.” But in this case, it’s all in the comic books. That’s right, ‘Big Trouble in Little China‘ is coming to comic book form starting June 4th from Boom! Studios. The John Carpenter film from 1986 starred Kurt Russell as Jack Burton, a hilarious truck driver who helps his friend Wang rescue his girlfriend from the evil supernatural Lopan and his monster and demon minions. I’m so happy that we get more ‘Big Trouble in Little China‘ now almost thirty years later.

John Carpenter is mostly known as a maestro of horror with movies like ‘Halloween‘, ‘They Live‘, ‘Escape From New York‘, and ‘Big Trouble In Little China‘ under his belt. In 1992, a mostly forgotten movie he made is ‘Memoirs of an Invisible Man‘, which starred Chevy Chase, Daryl Hannah, Sam Neill, Michael McKean, and Stephen “Ned Ryerson” Tobolowsky. Carpenter and Warner Bros. Studios didn’t exactly get along, because they wouldn’t let Carpenter have total creative control here, so the film is safe and family friendly, unlike the rest of his films. In fact, Ivan Reitman of ‘Ghostbusters‘ was set to make this movie, but it never got off the ground and Carpenter was offered the role.

THE FILM

Back in 1984, the world was given a movie by the name of ‘Ninja III: The Domination‘, which was the third film in a trilogy. If you were to go back and watch all three Ninja films, you’d be hard pressed to find a similar tone or continuity throughout each of them, minus a small ninja aspect. After the first two ‘Ninja‘ films, it was time to throw everything in the bag, including the kitchen sink, which eventually became ‘Ninja III: The Domination‘. The movie plays out like Hunter S. Thompson wrote it over a drug-induced bender in Vegas, but only had a few dollars to make the film that is a mix between ‘Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo‘, a horror film, and the wackiest Kung-Fu movie this side of the Mississippi. In fact, the star and director of ‘Breakin 2: Electric Boogaloo‘ also star and direct ‘Ninja III‘, which makes perfect sense when you think about it. This is a film that I imagine had fantastic intentions and thought it was going to be the biggest blockbuster ever made, but the results gave us something much more. It gave us a movie that was so beyond weird and insane, that cult audiences around the world fell in love with it and keep it alive still to this day.

Good news, everyone. The horror wizard John Carpenter is heading back to the genre with a new series for the SyFy network called Tales For A Halloween Night. Carpenter will executive produce the series and hopefully direct and write some of the episodes. The series is based off of Carpenter’s own horror anthology in graphic novel form. The search for writers, directors, and actors are currently in full force.

I think Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is going for a world record to star in the most movies ever, because he has signed on to star in yet another film. It’s really not shocking that it will be a big budget action-movie, but this one will be set in China and be called ‘Skyscraper‘.

As a writer for Boomstick Comics, we are charged with going to see a lot of movies. I thought that this past year, I saw quite a few. Apparently, with the opening of the Alamo Drafthouse in Richardson, the movies I saw this past year weren’t all new. There were some that were classic programming at a new venue. What can I say? James Wallace knows that I like (“Sixteen Candles”, “Aliens”, “Big Trouble In Little China”, “True Grit”, and “Conan” just to name a few), but I did see a “Few Good Movies.”

Good news, to the millions….and MILLIONS of Rock fans. The Rock has been busy as of lately. Well, I think he’s always busy, as he has about a dozen movies coming out, his HBO show, and too many to count upcoming projects, including a remake of ‘Big Trouble in Little China‘. We’re still waiting on him to play a live-action Johnny Bravo, but it looks like WWE has moved The Rock from their alumni website to their active roster.

Prepare yourselves, for I have an excellent look back at Dallas Comic Con’s own Fandays, from October 17th-19th. First I would like to apologize for the delay in reporting, but you know, Halloween isn’t just one day. It’s a month long celebration of costumes and shenanigans, as well as my favorite time of year. Dallas Comic Con’s Fandays fell on the third weekend in October this year. The date was perfect for prime costuming parades as it fell so close to Halloween, many costumed attendees were ready for both events.

I am ramping up for this weekend’s inevitable epic event, Dallas Comic Con’s Fan Days. Since attending my first convention nearly 9 years ago (great story, I ran into Corey Feldman. Literally.) I have had the opportunity to attend conventions from both coasts, and truly, no one puts on a great convention multiple times a year like they do it in Dallas. I mean nobody.

For you Dallasites out there, I have some excellent news for you. The Angelika Film Center in Dallas is getting into the midnight movie business. Well not so much at midnight, but rather at 11pm. Still, it’s the same concept. Starting November 1st, every Friday and Saturday night, The Angelika will show a retro horror, sci-fi, or comedy movie at 11pm for a only $7.00. And the first lineup for the next month looks AMAZING.

Mondo has only released a handful of soundtracks on vinyl since they first opened online, but this year they are hitting the ground full force with releasing more amazing movie soundtracks on the best quality format to listen to music. So far this year we have had ‘Poltergeist‘, ‘The Deadly Spawn‘, and the recent ‘Drive‘ soundtrack, which sold out in record time in under 30 minutes. And just this past week, they sold out of their newest soundtrack, ‘Oblivion‘, which has an amazing score. The cover artwork is amazing and the sound is even better with their releases. Mondo clearly knows what they’re doing when it comes to art and soundtracks.

The upcoming 11th edition of the Dallas International Film Festival, or DIFF, opens March 30 and runs through April 9 for 2017. The festival will celebrate the year of 1967 with a salute to films from that year and we’ve got the full schedule here.

The 9th annual Dallas International Film Festival is almost here, folks, and we have just received the entire list of all the films that will be playing at the festival. The fest will take place April 9-19, and you can start purchasing passes now with the links provided below. It looks like there will be some excellent filmmakers and actors in town for the festival as well as a treasure trove of awesome movies, which you can see listed out below with a little bit of information on each film. As usual, we will be at the festival, telling you about all the cool movies we’re seeing and posting some interviews with the talent. Stay tuned as I’m sure more announcements will be made.